Yacktman Asset Management LP Sells 336,506 Shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Yacktman Asset Management LP lessened its holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG - Free Report) by 24.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,051,928 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock after selling 336,506 shares during the period. Diamondback Energy comprises approximately 2.2% of Yacktman Asset Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Yacktman Asset Management LP owned about 0.36% of Diamondback Energy worth $168,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2.1% in the first quarter. Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC now owns 3,559 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $569,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 65.0% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 203 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 1,439 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $236,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 60.9% in the first quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 222 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. increased its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 6.4% in the first quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,449 shares of the oil and natural gas company's stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of Diamondback Energy from a "reduce" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $180.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Diamondback Energy from $175.00 to $163.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $186.00 to $183.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $216.00 to $180.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $193.35.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Hof Matthew Kaes Van't sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.69, for a total value of $1,426,900.00. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 120,645 shares in the company, valued at $17,214,835.05. This trade represents a 7.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

Shares of Diamondback Energy stock traded up $1.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $144.33. The company had a trading volume of 1,333,363 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,288,047. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $149.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 1-year low of $114.00 and a 1-year high of $214.50. The company has a market capitalization of $42.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 1.05.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The oil and natural gas company reported $4.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.67 by $0.87. Diamondback Energy had a return on equity of 11.22% and a net margin of 30.84%. The business had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.50 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 81.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Diamondback Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. Diamondback Energy's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.46%.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

Diamondback Energy, Inc, an independent oil and natural gas company, acquires, develops, explores, and exploits unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin in West Texas. It focuses on the development of the Spraberry and Wolfcamp formations of the Midland basin; and the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring formations of the Delaware basin, which are part of the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico.